LONG POND, Pa. — Kyle Larson had one more celebration left during his birthday week, setting a track record of 183.438 mph to win his first career Sprint Cup pole Friday at Pocono Raceway.

He broke the mark of 181.415 that Denny Hamlin set in June.

Larson, one of the top rookies in NASCAR, turned 22 on Thursday and wants to keep the party going with his first win Sunday. Larson could use a victory to secure a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, though he would make the 16-car field as it stands on points.

Larson started first this year at Richmond after rain wiped out qualifying and he took the top spot because of his practice time. But it did not count as an official pole.

Larson took this one in No. 42 Chevrolet moments before the skies opened at Pocono, and the threat of rain looms large for Sunday’s race.

“We’ve been really fast the last few months, just maybe finding better luck now,” Larson said.

He qualified for next year’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway and became NASCAR’s first Drive for Diversity graduate to win a Cup pole. Larson’s mother is Japanese and his father is of Native American descent.

Larson shared a birthday party Thursday with his manager’s 6-year-old daughter. Larson joked the girl was mad at him because he got his girlfriend pregnant, “and she thought she was my girlfriend.”

Larson made it up to the girl with a dozen roses and candy.

Larson’s speed was the 15th track qualifying record set in 2014. Logano posted his 17th top-10 start and his Team Penske teammate Keselowski has 16 top-10 starts in 21 races this season.

“We push them to be better the first round,” Logano said. “They push us to be better as we go into the third round. I’m getting better. We’re able to see what we do differently, which helps us because one is good in one area and one is good in the other, so we can see both of that.”